After years of requesting public documents through the California Public Records Act, NILC, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), and the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA) today announced that they were taking legal action to obtain information about the Los Angeles County’s ties to federal immigration enforcement efforts.

A federal judge in Georgia today issued the latest judicial rebuke to anti-immigrant laws passed this legislative season by state legislatures across the country. NILC, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a coalition of civil rights groups requested that the law be blocked from going into effect, pending a final ruling on its constitutionality. Today’s decision makes clear that H.B. 87 is unlikely to survive constitutional review because it improperly interferes with federal law.

A federal judge today blocked the implementation of a discriminatory Indiana law inspired by Arizona’s notorious SB 1070. NILC and the ACLU filed a lawsuit last month charging that the law authorizes police to make warrantless arrests of individuals based on assumed immigration status and criminalizes the mere use or acceptance of commonly used consular ID cards. The groups also charged in their lawsuit that the law will lead to racial profiling and trample upon the rights of all Indiana residents.

Along with five cosponsors, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2011 (S.1258). The legislation, which would offer a comprehensive solution to fix our broken immigration system and foster economic recovery, is the first bill of its kind in the 112th Congress. Here, in response, is a statement from Tyler Moran, policy director of the National Immigration Law Center.

NILC, the ACLU, the ACLU of South Carolina, and a coalition of civil rights groups announced they will file a lawsuit challenging the draconian racial profiling bill passed by the South Carolina legislature today if Gov. Nikki Haley signs it into law. The bill’s key provisions sanction discriminatory and unconstitutional practices by police officers and employers by inviting racial profiling of Latinos and others based on how they look or talk, interfering federal law. Under this extreme bill, police are required to demand “papers” from people they stop whom they suspect are not authorized to be in the U.S.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently announced several changes to its much-criticized Secure Communities (S-COMM) program. Here, in response, is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center.

Tyler Moran, policy director for NILC, served as an expert witness during a hearing about the Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2164), Rep. Lamar Smith’s recently introduced legislation mandating that all employers use an error-ridden Internet-based employment eligibility verification system modeled on E-Verify. The hearing, which took place in the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Immigration Policy and Enforcement, was the first public discussion of the controversial bill. (6/15/11)

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Rep. George Miller (D-CA), and Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) yesterday introduced the POWER (Protect Our Workers from Exploitation and Retaliation) Act, legislation that that, if passed, would expand the right to organize and offer key protections to all workers. Here is a statement from Emily Tulli, policy attorney with the National Immigration Law Center.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) today introduced the Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2164), legislation that would force every employer in the country to use a flawed Internet-based tool, patterned on E-Verify, to verify workers’ eligibility to be employed in the U.S. The legislation would prevent hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized workers from getting jobs and force millions more to either stand in government office lines to remedy their records or risk losing employment. (6/14/11)

Alabama Governor Bentley has signed into law what may be the harshest state-level, anti-immigrant measure to date. Inspired by Arizona’s notorious racial profiling law, SB 1070, the new Alabama law imposes a draconian immigration enforcement scheme that will subject immigrants and people of color to scrutiny in every aspect of their lives, including when renting homes, taking their children to school, and even entering into contracts.

The National Immigration Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of civil rights organizations today asked a federal court to block implementation of Georgia’s draconian new anti-immigrant law. The law, inspired by Arizona’s S.B. 1070 and scheduled to go into effect July 1, authorizes police to demand “papers” demonstrating citizenship or immigration status during routine encounters, criminalizes Georgians who interact with undocumented individuals, and denies individuals without specific identification access to state facilities and services.

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the American Civil Liberties Union, and a coalition of other civil rights groups filed a class action lawsuit today challenging Georgia’s discriminatory anti-immigrant law passed last month and inspired by Arizona’s notorious SB 1070. The Georgia law authorizes police to demand “papers” demonstrating citizenship or immigration status during traffic stops, criminalizes Georgians who interact daily with undocumented individuals, and makes it unjustifiably difficult for individuals without specific identification documents to access state facilities and services. The lawsuit charges that the extreme law endangers public safety, invites the racial profiling of Latinos, Asians and others who appear foreign to an officer, and interferes with federal law.